Joseph Metzger

Joseph Metzger, 91 years old of Bismarck, passed away Wednesday afternoon, June 18th, 2025. He was born on September 2nd, 1933, to Benedict and Daisy Metzger in Mount Carmel, North Dakota.

Funeral Mass will be at 10:30 AM on Friday, June 27 at Cathedral Catholic Church, 520 Raymond Street, Bismarck. Burial will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery, Bismarck. 

Joe grew up on a farm during the depression with his brothers where they attended a one room school. The youngest of three, Joe tended to be a bit of a loner who could be found wandering the beautiful hills chasing game in Northeastern North Dakota. He would frequently be found bringing back squirrels, rabbits and even an occasional deer to add to the family’s food supply. This love for the outdoors and nature would become a defining quality not only for Joe, but also for his wife and four boys. No family had more quality family time than did the Metzgers, albeit it was with a gun in their hands and the sun and wind on their faces while trudging through a couple of feet of snow; always their favorite family pastime.

Joe grew up and graduated from high school in Walhalla, North Dakota in 1951 and would go on to follow in his brothers’ footsteps by joining the Navy. He served on multiple ships as a Navy SeaBee, where he served as an engineer both mapping the ocean bottom surface and building airstrips and other sites on numerous islands. Joe advance to Chief Petty Officer during his years of service, leaving to return to North Dakota and the land he loved.

Joe Metzger attended the University of North Dakota with help from the GI Bill and became a civil engineer, graduating top engineer in his class. He began working for the North Dakota State Highway department where he would eventually write the Engineering Specification Manuals for three states and would be personally responsible for some of the most beautiful highways in the North Dakota, such as the road that travels through painted canyon in the badlands.

Joe married his life-long love, Carol Metzger, on May 6th, 1961 in Walhalla, ND, where they would begin their 57 year journey together that only was put on hold at Carol’s passing and will now continue in heaven.

Joe and Carol lived in multiple cities across the state following Joe’s career with the highway department; resulting in finally settling in Bismarck in 1974 when Joe started his own business, Metzger Engineering. They lived on Avenue B for 42 years, where their boys became part of the infamous “Avenue B Boys”, with Carol being the only person who could control this rowdy bunch. Their Highland Acres home will always be remembered for the open-door-to-anyone and happy-kitchen that would see numerous Christmas and birthday celebrations and hundreds of family meals where the meaning of family was clearly evident.

Although he had many memorable qualities, Joe will always be most notably remembered for his unwaverable Christian faith, his love for hunting, and his quiet strength, both internally as a person and physical strength.

Joe attended catholic services since childhood and remained loyal to the faith. He did realize that faith was both a personal choice and a public testimony. Joe prayed often and demonstrated the power of prayer through the countless hours he devoted to it. He thought that prayer is the best way to help others and strengthen relationships. His Christian faith deepened and he shared it often as he aged.

Hunting was his passion. It is impossible to number the friends of the Metzger boys who learned to hunt and enjoyed his very unorthodox but highly successful hunting style. His field stir-fry is without equal, and you could never truly experience true hunting until you saw Joe try to climb over a barbed wire fence. It will forever be his “waterloo”, though he was always the first one to look up and laugh at himself. We will never forget seeing this 89 year old man on our last big hunt together, when two of the Metzger boys couldn’t get a very large elk up into the truck and it and took the old man having to lay on the ground and use his legs to “squat it up” into the truck.

Joe and Carol were great parents, raising four “difficult” boys, where his love and encouragement can be seen in their four chosen professions; a teacher, a soldier, a health care professional and a musician with an undying love for Christ. But Joe was also an amazing Grandfather. Who else would lay on the floor with his four-year-old granddaughter and play barbies, albeit he refused to be “ken” and had to be “GI Joe” instead. But he was also willing to wrestle with each and every grandkid, where you would periodically hear one say “C’mon Grampa, im going to smack the money right out of you”. And none of the grandkids could ever forget sitting around the Christmas tree, listening to the sound of someone reading The Night Before Christmas, only to be interrupted by the sounds of jingle bells and a hearty “Ho Ho Ho” before a large bag of presents would be dropped down onto the deck. Especially the one year when we heard an out of place “yelp” followed by a large crashing sound, and we ran out on to the balcony expecting to see the end of grampa as he fell off the roof onto the deck, only to see this indestructible old man say “dammit, some old man and a bunch of caribou just threw me off the roof”. No son had a better role model nor grandchild a better hero than those that were a part of Joe’s life.

Joe Metzger leaves behind a thousand beautiful memories, thoughts and smiles, from the woods and fields, to the gyms, to family gatherings and outdoor activities. Joe, even at 91, was taken too soon, and leaves behind a legacy of a man who was built the old way; Strong and silent but loving to a fault.

Joe was preceded in death by his wife, Carol, and his son, Rocky (Jeanne), and most recently his brother Ross who passed away on June 7th, 2025 at 95 years old. Joe and Carol also had a daughter Lydia who was lost shortly after childbirth, but lived on as a guardian angel for the Metzger boys. He is survived by three sons Jeffrey, Steven (Debbie) and Gregory, granddaughters Ashley, Makenzie and grandsons Miles, Mason, Ben-Luke, Leif and Bryce. He also survived by his brother Jack, 93 years old. We would like to offer a special thanks to all those that were able to visit with dad in his final weeks. They meant the world to Dad. And a very special thank you to my Sister-in-Law Jeanne (and her sister) for being there praying with Dad as he slipped off to sleep for the final time.